PAKATAN Harapan chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will continue to mediate talks between Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Barisan Nasional (BN) under a single allied front for the coming state election.
Anwar, who is also the Prime Minister, made clear that Pakatan would maintain its existing electoral pacts with both BN and GRS.
“We are working with Pakatan Harapan and GRS. That is our stand,” he told reporters when asked about the unity government’s arrangements in Sabah.
He was met in Kampung Kobuni, Inanam, on Friday. The Prime Minister is on a two-day working visit to the state and is scheduled to be in Tawau tonight and Sandakan tomorrow.
He added that discussions with GRS chairman and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor were still ongoing.
Pakatan is now caught in what has been described as a “love triangle” — maintaining separate pacts with BN and GRS following the fallout between both coalitions in 2023.
At present, Pakatan and BN have nearly finalised their seat-sharing arrangement, with BN eyeing between 44 and 45 seats and the remainder allocated to Pakatan.
GRS, however, is pushing for 55 seats while Pakatan is asking for 23, showing that there are still major issues to iron out.
Pakatan’s negotiations with GRS have yet to yield an agreement, leaving the two blocs some distance apart.
Sabah BN and GRS, meanwhile, have publicly declared they will not cooperate, setting up potential clashes in constituencies not contested by Pakatan.
The Sabah assembly is expected to be dissolved automatically on November 11. – September 26, 2025
